Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Deer season! Wear your orange!

My DH went out to run yesterday just on the road & said it made him a little nervous hearing shooting nearby.

BTW, if you all aren't signed up for Orschelyn's sales they have heated dog bowls half price today online only for $9.99 & free shipping. I just ordered 4 of them so I would have a couple extras in case my older ones quit on me.

 

[sharol]

re: cleaning fairies The best gift my DH ever gave me was the services of a girl who cleaned for me every other week. I got her for 3 hours, so I picked up before she got there so she would do the heavy stuff. That was 21 years ago, and she is still cleaning for me every other week. (I think she does it as a favor since she and her DH are into lots of businesses that keep them busy).

I have been off list for a few days with the intestinal yuck that is going around. We had 9 people here at Thanksgiving, and as of this afternoon 7 of us have gotten this but. It was virulent!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the other two.

Still no eggs. My roosters are getting randy, so I need to get rid of a beautiful Marans roo and a beautiful Marans/Orp cross as well as one of the EEs that I hatched last spring:

This is Chiczilla. He is a large Marans/Buff Orpington cross (both high quality parents). His feathers look almost metallic in some lights.


I'm keeping this son of Butch. He looks a lot like his father. He is EE/EE. (Mutt?)


This is Elwood, the other son of Butch. I had hoped to keep both of them, but they are competing for the ladies already, so one of them has to go and Jake looks more like his dad.


I suppose it is a waste of time, but if anyone can use a gentle hand raised rooster, either Chickzilla or Elwood is available absolutely free. If you are anywhere near Emporia, I'll even meet you halfway. These are good tempered birds, they are just hormones on feet, and I don't have enough hens for them. The pure Blue Copper Marans roo is developing slower, so his departure is less urgent.

 

[chicken danz]

@sharol -- I'd never thought that the milk products could mess with them. Good comment. They go nuts when I bring it out, but they can take a week off and see what happens.
@Trish44 -- As evidence of just how far I've come from having no interest in chickens, I spent way too long studying the chicken poo link. Thank you. I'd have to say what I'm seeing (and stepping, no sliding, in) looks like the pictures under normal and ceacal. Being a total NOOB to birds (I can now pretty consistently tell the head from the feet), I figured something was wrong. I'd still like to get things "tightened" up, but it's nice to know a bird isn't going to flop over dead as a result of runny poo.
@chicken danz -- Thanks for the link. Their website says "Call store" under availability -- figures. At least I know why I couldn't find it. I did buy http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/probiosreg;-dispersible-powder-240-grams?cm_vc=-10005 last time I was there, wondering if it was what you use. I was wrong. How much/often do you use? Do you just follow the measurements on the back and give it to them once a week or so? I'll dig into the specs on both to see if what I have is functionally the same. If not, I'll make a return and ask them to get it for me.
@cherwill -- I'll try the timer thing. We got less eggs in Nov as compared with Oct, even though we had more layers.

Thanks for all the help!

Zig I think from looking at packages the probiotics are all very similar. I just put a scoop on top of their feed or in their water. The scoop with the goat probiotics is really tiny. Maybe a hlaf tsp at most and way more than they probably need. Can't hurt them though.
OrIginally Posted by Trish44

Most of the ducks are no longer staying at the pond. The ones that were last year's hatch and are now a year and a half old, must have learned wisdom with age and they are ALL in the coop every night. The ones who hatched this year are still at that juvenile age where they apparently believe themselves to be invincible. But even they seem to know to go in the coop at night now. Every duck the fox got was one I hatched this year. The drake that was the last victim is one who did go in every night though, so there are two possibilities. One is that the fox visited during daylight hours, or the second is that the drake went down to the pond and instead of flying back, waddled back. That would leave him stuck on the pasture side of the fence and unable to get back to the coop. We were gone for a few days and if I'd been here, I'd have known to look for him and open the gate to let him out of the pasture but the critter sitter wouldn't have noticed one missing and probably wouldn't have known how to get him back in even if it was noticed that the drake was on the wrong side of the fence.

Thanks for the offer of the trap, Josie - I may end up taking you up on that. We've seen this fox twice in the past few months. The first time it was on my neighbor's property so I was reluctant to shoot, but did finally get a good shot at him and that was the time I discovered too late that the safety was on. The second time he was out at the end of our pasture. So out of range that we were only able to even tell it was the fox through the binoculars. If I had it to do all over though, I would have snuck up on him that day because he was there a good 45 minutes. I might have been able to get in range if I'd only tried. Since then he's got a half dozen ducks so it really makes me wish I'd tried the day I knew he was there. However, since we've seen him twice in daylight hours, it gives me hope that if I stay vigilant, I will see him again and this time I'll be prepared. I'll even take the safety off.

So sorry the fox is at it again. I hope you had a good little trip anyway.

Ooh, "magic cleaning fairy" I want one too. I don't want one of these deals that I have to clean first before they show up tho. I think laundry is the worst, I hate folding and putting it away, I wish I had a spare dining room table in another room that I could just leave it in and ignore it.
I put a cookie-tin heater in the coop for later this week, sounds like its going to get ugly cold again. These last few days sure have been nice .

I think I need a whole colony of cleaning fairies. Once could never keep up around here.
Quote:

"ugly cold" - that is a good way to put it! The current temperature here is 66*F. The forecasted high for Wednesday is only 23*F and for Thursday is only 15*F. BRRR!!! It's supposed to be windy as well, which definitely won't help it feel any warmer. I am NOT looking forward to doing chores those days! I guess the only good thing is that it is deer season, which means we keep the horses closer to the house and won't have to walk so far to bring them in at night. My heavy coat doesn't fit over both me and the little one (I put him in a Moby wrap to take him with me when I go outside) so I guess I'll be commandeering one of my DH's heavy coats. It's a good thing he has more than one because it looks like it isn't going to warm up for a while.

Keep that little sweety warm!!! Our forecast is just awful as well. I saw the forecast for the next week and there is a solid week of very very cold temps. I guess I'd better start dressing a lot warmer. Ugh! I hate it! I am so worried if all my heaters kick in that I will overload some circuits. I think I need to put out some LED night lights so I can see that the power is still on out there. I've also hung short strings of Christmas lights in the past in the coops which don't make it too light for the birds but give a soft glow I can see. As long as I know the power is still operating I can assume at least they have water to drink.
I am pretty happy. My little white orp pullet whom I've been nursing back to health was very insistent in sitting in a big flower pot yesterday. I'd take her out and she'd jump back in. Later I took her outside and let her run around the yard while I was out there working. When I came back in here tonight I saw why she was sitting in the pot. She laid her first egg!!!!

I normally don't get real excited about first eggs but in this case I am thrilled. I all but lost this girl. She was skin and bones and unable to move off her side for a long time. Now she is putting on weight and obviously healthy enough to start laying. Yesterday when she was outside a big buff orp roo bred her. So now I have to worry about her first eggs being fertilized by a buff. I was going to move her back out to the coop but in view of this coming weather I don't know how she would do. She has gotten very acclimated to the temp inside the house. I really need to de-bird this house with the holidays coming up.
I have so much to do today. I didn't realize how long this cold weather was supposed to last so I might have to do a little more than I planned to be cold weather ready. I want to get a couple of new vents put in my brooder house so I can close the windows and get all the ventilation up as high as possible. I'd also like to clean it out again and put all new shavings down but I don't know if I'll have time. I need to get the keypad installed on the gate out front in case the propane man comes to check propane. I told him I'd have it there by November 1st and it's still not there!
I need to get the Christmas tree brought in from storage so I don't have to do that in the cold. At least with the cold weather maybe I'll finally get some of my house projects caught up.
I installed a new water line in the basement with a faucet yesterday so if it doesn't leak I can run water down there. I am always having to haul water downstairs and I have some chicks down there now so I need it. I also have major cleaning to do that would be much easier with some water. The problem was I tapped into an old pipe and it kept dripping with the valve shut off. I even finally shut of the main to the house but it still dripped. Grrr! I guess any water in the pipes was finding the lowest route to fall. So I'm not sure my glue set up and kept it water proof. I sure hope it works. I've been meaning to get that done for a year.
I had traded a turkey for 6 chocolate bantam orp eggs. Yesterday was hatch day. I got 6 chicks out of 6 eggs. I just hope they thrive. I don't care for bantams but I want to use these guys for a breeding project.
I finally did some shopping on line yesterday. I got a couple of dolls for granddaughters and spent about 4 times as much as I planned on one of my sons and his wife. I just can't seem to keep in control! So now I have to spend more on the others...but I think I will try to hold back a little on the others. I do want to eat the next year!!!
My DH made a tunnel type extention for one of the smaller coops. (A little extra weather protection so I can feed them outside etc.) We currently have a couple pieces of tin leaned against the building to give a little added shelter. He did a nice job but he built it backwards. He left the opening on the wrong side. It's one of those "discussions" between us where we disagree on what direction the storms come from. It would be very simple at this point for him to reverse it to the other side but he won't because he is stubborn. It's not installed in place yet and I could really use it this week but he is working days. I guess when it fills up with snow I might get him to finally admit he is wrong.

I really thought maybe he would reverse it after our discussion but he didn't.
I woke up at 4AM this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. I really hate it when I do that. I'll be a total witch by late afternoon.

 

[HEChicken]

Hoo-boy - that cold weather coming in this weekend is NOT welcome. Depending on which weather forecast we look at, our low for Friday night is supposed to be either 9 or 14. Either one is cold but I'd rather not dip into single digits so I'm going to hope the 14 is more accurate. That's a pretty big difference though, from respected weather forecasters.

That gray drake I lamented yesterday was taken by the fox? Well, last night as I was cooking dinner I looked out the window to see the ducks walking up from the pond and at first glance there seemed to be too many little bodies. So I grabbed the binoculars and looked and….there he was among them! I guess the fox didn't get him after all. I had to keep cooking, and it was after the auto door had closed before I could get out there and do a final check but found the other ducks in the coop and no gray drake. I had the flashlight so I walked down to the pond and he was there, swimming around in the middle. Needless to say, I couldn't convince him to leave, even with promises that I would open the coop back up for him to go in. So I think what happened is he flew down there and now, while the others can take flight and fly back over the fence to the coop, he doesn't think he can (he can because I've seen him in flight but its all about our own self-confidence, right?) so he walks back to the pond to spend the night. I can only hope the fox didn't get him last night and in the daylight I should be able to get him up, lock up the sheep and goats for a minute while I open the pasture gate to let him through, and from there he can get back to the coop. Its too foggy this morning to have a chance of seeing if he's still out there so keep your fingers crossed for me, ok?

Danz, that little grandchick of yours is doing great! The chick and mama are still in a small pen where they have a quarter barrel to nest under, and some hay for nesting material as well. I don't know what to do about the cold weather coming in this weekend. I don't have the ability to bring power out to them, so I will have to change water frequently if I leave them there, but if I move them to the coop, I worry about the little one not being able to make it in and out of the pop door yet. I do have a large dog crate in my 3-season room and if I move them there, I can provide water so I might consider doing that.

Yesterday I opened up the gate and let our new little lambs out with the rest of the flock. We couldn't do that when we initially got them because they were just off their mamas and tried to nurse from the ewes, who didn't take to that behavior very well. Now that they are fully weaned and know that this is their home, letting them out was pretty much a non-event. They joined the flock, didn't try to nurse, were not ostracized or picked on, and that was that. Feeding time this morning may be a little more interesting though as they don't have the bulk to get in and compete for food. If I can separate them to eat I will but I doubt it will work out that well.

When we had such a mild summer, I had several people predict it would be an extreme winter and so far, they seem to be right - this is so unseasonably cold for this time of year! I wouldn't mind the temperatures so much if it wasn't for all these animals to worry about when its so cold...

 

[chicken danz]

You know, HeChicken if I could just stay inside I wouldn't mind the cold so much either. I could use being forced inside to get things done and maybe even find some down time. BUT and a big but at that, I have so many darned pens and birds to take care of. I worry that even with the heated bowls in those cold temps water will freeze. It has happened before. I don't handle the cold well either. Makes me hurt all over!!!
It's times like these I really really wonder why I have so many birds!!!
I'm sure the little chick would be fine with the mama hen but worrying about water is always a concern. If it were me they'd be in the sunroom but then what's a little more chick dust and poo around here?
Our forecast for Friday is a low of 7. I did see 8 on the Topeka channel last night, not that one degree is going to help much. I fear more than anything that I'll loose outside water. That is just darned spooky to me. I had to take the heat gun to the outside faucet a few times last year just to turn the valve. If I have to carry water to all these pens in a bucket from the house some one will probably find me frozen in place some where in the yard.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

re: cleaning fairies The best gift my DH ever gave me was the services of a girl who cleaned for me every other week. I got her for 3 hours, so I picked up before she got there so she would do the heavy stuff. That was 21 years ago, and she is still cleaning for me every other week. (I think she does it as a favor since she and her DH are into lots of businesses that keep them busy).

I have been off list for a few days with the intestinal yuck that is going around. We had 9 people here at Thanksgiving, and as of this afternoon 7 of us have gotten this but. It was virulent!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the other two.

Still no eggs. My roosters are getting randy, so I need to get rid of a beautiful Marans roo and a beautiful Marans/Orp cross as well as one of the EEs that I hatched last spring:

This is Chiczilla. He is a large Marans/Buff Orpington cross (both high quality parents). His feathers look almost metallic in some lights.


I'm keeping this son of Butch. He looks a lot like his father. He is EE/EE. (Mutt?)


This is Elwood, the other son of Butch. I had hoped to keep both of them, but they are competing for the ladies already, so one of them has to go and Jake looks more like his dad.


I suppose it is a waste of time, but if anyone can use a gentle hand raised rooster, either Chickzilla or Elwood is available absolutely free. If you are anywhere near Emporia, I'll even meet you halfway. These are good tempered birds, they are just hormones on feet, and I don't have enough hens for them. The pure Blue Copper Marans roo is developing slower, so his departure is less urgent.

Elwood is very handsome, I am sure someone will snatch him up. Very nice birds!

Hoo-boy - that cold weather coming in this weekend is NOT welcome. Depending on which weather forecast we look at, our low for Friday night is supposed to be either 9 or 14. Either one is cold but I'd rather not dip into single digits so I'm going to hope the 14 is more accurate. That's a pretty big difference though, from respected weather forecasters.

That gray drake I lamented yesterday was taken by the fox? Well, last night as I was cooking dinner I looked out the window to see the ducks walking up from the pond and at first glance there seemed to be too many little bodies. So I grabbed the binoculars and looked and….there he was among them! I guess the fox didn't get him after all. I had to keep cooking, and it was after the auto door had closed before I could get out there and do a final check but found the other ducks in the coop and no gray drake. I had the flashlight so I walked down to the pond and he was there, swimming around in the middle. Needless to say, I couldn't convince him to leave, even with promises that I would open the coop back up for him to go in. So I think what happened is he flew down there and now, while the others can take flight and fly back over the fence to the coop, he doesn't think he can (he can because I've seen him in flight but its all about our own self-confidence, right?) so he walks back to the pond to spend the night. I can only hope the fox didn't get him last night and in the daylight I should be able to get him up, lock up the sheep and goats for a minute while I open the pasture gate to let him through, and from there he can get back to the coop. Its too foggy this morning to have a chance of seeing if he's still out there so keep your fingers crossed for me, ok?

Danz, that little grandchick of yours is doing great! The chick and mama are still in a small pen where they have a quarter barrel to nest under, and some hay for nesting material as well. I don't know what to do about the cold weather coming in this weekend. I don't have the ability to bring power out to them, so I will have to change water frequently if I leave them there, but if I move them to the coop, I worry about the little one not being able to make it in and out of the pop door yet. I do have a large dog crate in my 3-season room and if I move them there, I can provide water so I might consider doing that.

Yesterday I opened up the gate and let our new little lambs out with the rest of the flock. We couldn't do that when we initially got them because they were just off their mamas and tried to nurse from the ewes, who didn't take to that behavior very well. Now that they are fully weaned and know that this is their home, letting them out was pretty much a non-event. They joined the flock, didn't try to nurse, were not ostracized or picked on, and that was that. Feeding time this morning may be a little more interesting though as they don't have the bulk to get in and compete for food. If I can separate them to eat I will but I doubt it will work out that well.

When we had such a mild summer, I had several people predict it would be an extreme winter and so far, they seem to be right - this is so unseasonably cold for this time of year! I wouldn't mind the temperatures so much if it wasn't for all these animals to worry about when its so cold...

I agree about the cold and worrying about animals. This year I have had to take some of the feed bags down off the walls (I staple them up to stop drafts) because the ammonia level is high in there and my DLM isn't working because of the moisture. I have 3 windows in it that I open every day but it was still very moist and compacted down when I stepped on it. Not sure what I am doing wrong there?


I have a friend looking for a couple crele and lavender orpington hens or pullets. She is in Hutchinson Kansas, is anyone around her or Wichita that has any?

 

[HEChicken]

I'm sure the little chick would be fine with the mama hen but worrying about water is always a concern. If it were me they'd be in the sunroom but then what's a little more chick dust and poo around here?
Our forecast for Friday is a low of 7. I did see 8 on the Topeka channel last night, not that one degree is going to help much. I fear more than anything that I'll loose outside water. That is just darned spooky to me. I had to take the heat gun to the outside faucet a few times last year just to turn the valve. If I have to carry water to all these pens in a bucket from the house some one will probably find me frozen in place some where in the yard.

You are funny!!! But - I do share in your concerns about freezing stuff at this time of year. I think I will bring the chick and mama up to the sunroom this weekend. Its not all the way in the house - just attached to it - and is not heated so it shouldn't mess with their acclimatization too much, but will allow me to plug in water for them.

I agree about the cold and worrying about animals. This year I have had to take some of the feed bags down off the walls (I staple them up to stop drafts) because the ammonia level is high in there and my DLM isn't working because of the moisture. I have 3 windows in it that I open every day but it was still very moist and compacted down when I stepped on it. Not sure what I am doing wrong there?

Do you have more birds this year than you did same time last year? That could contribute to the increase in ammonia. I am having the same problem this year. I do have more birds and I think that's why. I've just been out there - in my pajamas! - turning over the DLM layer with a pitchfork, to try to air it out some during the day today. I also left the people door open for better ventilation. I figure if I do this now, while the weather is mild, I can get it aired out before the next cold spell when they will likely spend more time indoors again. I might add a bale of straw this weekend, to give them something to do while the weather is cold.

Well, I just walked down to the pond and the gray drake survived another night. I can't imagine what he's eating. If he can't get up to the coop to sleep at night, that means he also hasn't eaten any of my feed since he's been down there. I guess he must be finding enough to eat down there to get by. Either that or he'll lose enough weight to take to the air and get back to the coop!

This morning I stuck my head in the coop and noticed my silkie hen STILL sitting in the corner laying her egg....just like she did all day yesterday. I am so slow on the uptake! I guess it is just the time of year when it doesn't occur to me that the silly birds will want to hatch. Of course, she is sitting on an egg - it looks like one of her own - and possibly has been for up to a week, since we were out of the town and the pet sitter wouldn't have known the signs (heck - I missed them and I DO know the signs).

So I'm thinking I might pull her up to the sunroom too, and give her some eggs I actually want hatched, and she can brood up there and raise the chicks there too, until they're ready to go down to the chicken yard. I haven't looked at the calendar yet, but I guess they'll be close to being Christmas babies!!!

 

[maidenwolfx80]

You are funny!!! But - I do share in your concerns about freezing stuff at this time of year. I think I will bring the chick and mama up to the sunroom this weekend. Its not all the way in the house - just attached to it - and is not heated so it shouldn't mess with their acclimatization too much, but will allow me to plug in water for them.

Do you have more birds this year than you did same time last year? That could contribute to the increase in ammonia. I am having the same problem this year. I do have more birds and I think that's why. I've just been out there - in my pajamas! - turning over the DLM layer with a pitchfork, to try to air it out some during the day today. I also left the people door open for better ventilation. I figure if I do this now, while the weather is mild, I can get it aired out before the next cold spell when they will likely spend more time indoors again. I might add a bale of straw this weekend, to give them something to do while the weather is cold.

Well, I just walked down to the pond and the gray drake survived another night. I can't imagine what he's eating. If he can't get up to the coop to sleep at night, that means he also hasn't eaten any of my feed since he's been down there. I guess he must be finding enough to eat down there to get by. Either that or he'll lose enough weight to take to the air and get back to the coop!

This morning I stuck my head in the coop and noticed my silkie hen STILL sitting in the corner laying her egg....just like she did all day yesterday. I am so slow on the uptake! I guess it is just the time of year when it doesn't occur to me that the silly birds will want to hatch. Of course, she is sitting on an egg - it looks like one of her own - and possibly has been for up to a week, since we were out of the town and the pet sitter wouldn't have known the signs (heck - I missed them and I DO know the signs).

So I'm thinking I might pull her up to the sunroom too, and give her some eggs I actually want hatched, and she can brood up there and raise the chicks there too, until they're ready to go down to the chicken yard. I haven't looked at the calendar yet, but I guess they'll be close to being Christmas babies!!!

Yes I do have more in there. I guess I will try turning it more often. I am out there everyday anyway. I was watering in my pj's yesterday lol. I think I will add more straw and toss in some BOSS. Hopefully I can dry it out without having to take abunch out.
I have a RIR hen trying to sit.. I said oh no you don't.. I guess it isn't cold enough yet for them to decide it isn't a good idea. Or maybe some girls just have the NEED no matter the temp outside. Silly birds.

 

[JosieChick]

The problem with that is I can't get electricity to that coop, it's too far out & I already have my max of extension cords out there, so that's why I have to have a rubber pan for them so I can break the ice out of it. I have extension cords going all over the place as it is & I'm afraid if I try to add any more I'll blow a breaker.

Josie, that made me laugh, I need one of those cleaning fairies too!

There should be a special cleaning fairy that just does the laundry. I don't mind washing or folding but it just doesn't get put away! I am a total slacker in the department. Then we run out of laundry baskets....and we have a lot of laundry baskets so there is not reason for that to happen...

Ooh, "magic cleaning fairy" I want one too. I don't want one of these deals that I have to clean first before they show up tho. I think laundry is the worst, I hate folding and putting it away, I wish I had a spare dining room table in another room that I could just leave it in and ignore it.
I put a cookie-tin heater in the coop for later this week, sounds like its going to get ugly cold again. These last few days sure have been nice .

Keep that little bundle warm!!!

"ugly cold" - that is a good way to put it! The current temperature here is 66*F. The forecasted high for Wednesday is only 23*F and for Thursday is only 15*F. BRRR!!! It's supposed to be windy as well, which definitely won't help it feel any warmer. I am NOT looking forward to doing chores those days! I guess the only good thing is that it is deer season, which means we keep the horses closer to the house and won't have to walk so far to bring them in at night. My heavy coat doesn't fit over both me and the little one (I put him in a Moby wrap to take him with me when I go outside) so I guess I'll be commandeering one of my DH's heavy coats. It's a good thing he has more than one because it looks like it isn't going to warm up for a while.

Love it! I keep thinking if we had the extra money I would totally hire someone, I am a cleaner that likes to do everything at once and with a baby that just does not happen so my housekeeping is lacking these days. I think Elwood is really handsome, but I need another roo like a hole in my head!!!

re: cleaning fairies The best gift my DH ever gave me was the services of a girl who cleaned for me every other week. I got her for 3 hours, so I picked up before she got there so she would do the heavy stuff. That was 21 years ago, and she is still cleaning for me every other week. (I think she does it as a favor since she and her DH are into lots of businesses that keep them busy).

I have been off list for a few days with the intestinal yuck that is going around. We had 9 people here at Thanksgiving, and as of this afternoon 7 of us have gotten this but. It was virulent!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the other two.

Still no eggs. My roosters are getting randy, so I need to get rid of a beautiful Marans roo and a beautiful Marans/Orp cross as well as one of the EEs that I hatched last spring:

This is Chiczilla. He is a large Marans/Buff Orpington cross (both high quality parents). His feathers look almost metallic in some lights.


I'm keeping this son of Butch. He looks a lot like his father. He is EE/EE. (Mutt?)


This is Elwood, the other son of Butch. I had hoped to keep both of them, but they are competing for the ladies already, so one of them has to go and Jake looks more like his dad.


I suppose it is a waste of time, but if anyone can use a gentle hand raised rooster, either Chickzilla or Elwood is available absolutely free. If you are anywhere near Emporia, I'll even meet you halfway. These are good tempered birds, they are just hormones on feet, and I don't have enough hens for them. The pure Blue Copper Marans roo is developing slower, so his departure is less urgent.

Frozen in the yard!!!! Too funny, hope your water is ok. Do you have frost free hydrants?

You know, HeChicken if I could just stay inside I wouldn't mind the cold so much either. I could use being forced inside to get things done and maybe even find some down time. BUT and a big but at that, I have so many darned pens and birds to take care of. I worry that even with the heated bowls in those cold temps water will freeze. It has happened before. I don't handle the cold well either. Makes me hurt all over!!!
It's times like these I really really wonder why I have so many birds!!!
I'm sure the little chick would be fine with the mama hen but worrying about water is always a concern. If it were me they'd be in the sunroom but then what's a little more chick dust and poo around here?
Our forecast for Friday is a low of 7. I did see 8 on the Topeka channel last night, not that one degree is going to help much. I fear more than anything that I'll loose outside water. That is just darned spooky to me. I had to take the heat gun to the outside faucet a few times last year just to turn the valve. If I have to carry water to all these pens in a bucket from the house some one will probably find me frozen in place some where in the yard.

GLAD your duck is ok!!! Love it when they show back up after giving a fright! We had a hen go broody while the pet sitter was here a few years ago and she called all concerned because the hen couldn't walk and when she picked her up she would just waddle like a blob back onto a pile of eggs. She thought this poor hen was going to die and when I told her she was just broody she couldn't stop laughing!

You are funny!!! But - I do share in your concerns about freezing stuff at this time of year. I think I will bring the chick and mama up to the sunroom this weekend. Its not all the way in the house - just attached to it - and is not heated so it shouldn't mess with their acclimatization too much, but will allow me to plug in water for them.

Do you have more birds this year than you did same time last year? That could contribute to the increase in ammonia. I am having the same problem this year. I do have more birds and I think that's why. I've just been out there - in my pajamas! - turning over the DLM layer with a pitchfork, to try to air it out some during the day today. I also left the people door open for better ventilation. I figure if I do this now, while the weather is mild, I can get it aired out before the next cold spell when they will likely spend more time indoors again. I might add a bale of straw this weekend, to give them something to do while the weather is cold.

Well, I just walked down to the pond and the gray drake survived another night. I can't imagine what he's eating. If he can't get up to the coop to sleep at night, that means he also hasn't eaten any of my feed since he's been down there. I guess he must be finding enough to eat down there to get by. Either that or he'll lose enough weight to take to the air and get back to the coop!

This morning I stuck my head in the coop and noticed my silkie hen STILL sitting in the corner laying her egg....just like she did all day yesterday. I am so slow on the uptake! I guess it is just the time of year when it doesn't occur to me that the silly birds will want to hatch. Of course, she is sitting on an egg - it looks like one of her own - and possibly has been for up to a week, since we were out of the town and the pet sitter wouldn't have known the signs (heck - I missed them and I DO know the signs).

So I'm thinking I might pull her up to the sunroom too, and give her some eggs I actually want hatched, and she can brood up there and raise the chicks there too, until they're ready to go down to the chicken yard. I haven't looked at the calendar yet, but I guess they'll be close to being Christmas babies!!!

Alright, gotta go out and feed the horses. Can't see them in the fog but I can feel their eyes burning a hole in the back of my head anyway.

 

[chicken danz]

I managed to go out and open the pens but that has about been it outside. I have been moving some stuff in the basement this morning. Trying to get my Dad's freezer plugged in and running. I found out yesterday the moths have gotten in my cat food bins so now I have 3 20 pound bags of cat food to freeze to kill them out. Needless to say they are all over the house now. Grrr!
Yes Josie I do have a frost free hydrant but it is in the barn and not hooked to water any where. It's still in the box.

I only bought it 3 years ago!!! It was supposed to go to the well so I could water the birds from there. Well now we have the wiring torn out that went to the well pump so that project went down hill. I do have a faucet coming out of the house that is supposed to be frost free but like I said, the handle froze on it just from the cold. So I am forced to drag hundreds of feet of hose around the yard to water with and if it freezes that means hauling about 50 buckets of water one by one. NOT Good! If my DH would just do the projects I buy the materials for that I can't handle by myself life would be great!!! I end up doing them by myself eventually and usually have to buy half the stuff again because he has stashed the stuff I buy here or there or used it for some thing else.
I found some old floor vents so I guess I'm going to go cut some holes in my brooder house and install them for vents. Assuming I can figure out how to safely mount them.